Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-24

the people seemed to fear him He had
been told. l suppose, that | could speak
The dialect, and no sooner had ! come
into his presence than he shouted at me:
$50 You dare land on my island with.
ont first seeking permission. We shall
see about that"
But we are sailors in distress" l re-
piled
Bah. What is your distress to me-
Am responsible because You don't know
how 10 sail your ship safely? Where does
your craft come from, and where is she
bound to2''
| told him truly
What is your cargo,'
'Shc is i'll ballast only
''liow many men are left sboards'
Seven, counting the cook"
is he & negro"
He is"
well. you needn't count him. We
| Will throw him 10 the sharks. | ate some
negro once and il made me sick for three
days. We will capture the ship and bring
your friends here"
But why not carry word for us to
some Of the ports and thus earn a large
| sum of money!
And be seized and shut up in prison.
or hung. Take the lean, long devil away
and fatten him up II he won't eat you
must cram the food down lis throat
lie hit the nail on the head when he
| called me long and lean. | stood about
six feet, was long armed and long Legged.
and weighed only 10 pounds. They
might have hunted for Il week without
finding an ounce Of fat. When returnc,!
10 the hut no longer had any hope
felt certain that we had not only fallen
among c1nnibals, but that some o: us
would surely he eaten within "A
| day or two. l was greatly wor-
ried, too, about the brig. The yawl was
the only boat left her by the storm.
and our continued absence would puzzle
the captain. He would have no idea OF
the mess we had got into. and would no,
| therefore be on his guard against an at
| tack by the natives. l am certain they
| meant To make one. but Providence inter
| fered. With the going down Of the sun
| n strong breeze set in from the land and
before midnight. as l learned several
| r-onths later, the cables which had SO
! lrng stood the strain parted and let the
h.iE drift TO sea. She was picked up by a
steamer next day and towed into Homo
lulu, and the captain reported that we of
the yawl had likely been capsizcd and
drowned while trying 10 come off TO the
brig after Gark. That report settled our
fate, and nothing more would ever be
learned of us except by accident.
Our first night in the village was
a wretched one. The natives were awake
all night long, singing, shouting and
rejoicing over our capture, and, ii
being midsummer. we were nearly
devoured ahve by insects. l caught few
words now and then from the guards dur
ing the night. and thus learned that the
sea WAS too heavy 10 permit the attack on
the brig. and that none of Us would be
eaten until the people Of Little Cannibal,
which was three or four miles distant,
could cross ne channel. This, they
figured, could he done in another twenty
four hours, but they We're wrong. Tho
wind held at half gale for the next two
days, and it was on the fourth day of our
capture that the visitors appeared. 4
chief and about twenty men came, and
We're warmly welcomed. / had not seen
any Of the sailors except the one who
lodged with me up TO this time, but |
knew the huts in which they were con
fined, and by looking through the creyiccs
Of my prison walls / got an idea who
would he the first victim. The fattcst
t:idl III our crew ilitu toiilt ashore Win me.
He was second class seaman named
Philhrick, and was built like porpoise
He had a smooth face, red cheeks, and
was in the bloom of health. If the natives
We're after something fat and tender in the
way Of human flesh they would certainly
take Fhilbrick, and soon saw they meant
to. The choicest food they could provide
was being carried to him. and il was evi-
dom ,l,.y S,,,fS hin, f,r p.
lie, poor fellow, evidently had no sus-
picions, or, with sailors proverbial reck-
lessness was bound 10 live high while the
opportunity held out
The visitors arrived about 9 o'clock in
the morning. and half an hour later l saw
Philbrick led out. l do not think the
men in any Of the liner huts could have
seen him. think they had given him
plenty of strong drink, for he acted tipsy.
and rs he came out of the hut he was
singing a happy song. The people at once
gathered around him and led him off To
the woods in the rear Of the village Our
guards went with the crowd. their places
being taken by five or six boys of from Il
10 IL years Of age. These boys We're We'll
armed, attended strictly to the business
on hand, and any attempt to force our way
out would have resulted in our death.
1t was O'Clock in the afternoon when
the men returned. and l was soon aware
of the fact that Philbrick had been killed
and dcvoured. Indeed the people con-
graduated each other on his excellent con
ditinn, and the strangers departed for
home with the promise 10 come back OF
the third day. 1t row seemed that tlt
programme was to kill and ca. one Of us
4
| made mp Our minds TO eat uo more food
than would barely sustain life. l was as
| have told You, in very poor flesh. and,
fortunately for the sailor he was not
much better off, while he had a running
sore on his leg. He had no sooner in
formed me Of this than l Qut with my
knife and gashed the calf Of my right leg |
and then. 10y rubbing tobacco into the
fresh wound, got up an irritation which
! knew would soon produce sore.
The next day after the death of Phil |
brick our allowance oe food WIS greatly
increased. but We scarcely tasted n mouth
full. They also gave lis plenty Of brandy,
in bottles Of English make. but we never
touched it. kept working at my wound
and the sailor kept irritating his sore, and
in couple of days we both had fever,
aud really cared very little about food.
! knew we should not be the next victims,
n, the two other men were in better flesh;
but still as the third day came around |
was i'll anything but an cnviable frame of
mind. | could not see the huts Of the
prisoners, but when the visitors arrived.
which was AT about the same hour as be
fore. the victim selected was a sailor called
sam. His other name was on the briggs
articles of course, hut / had not learned
it. He was an old sailor, blind of one
eye, and when he had been brought out
he probably suspected for the first time
what was TO follow. Wrcnching himself
from his guards, he seized n war club and
laid about him with such fury as 10 hold
the crowd at bay for four or five minutes.
He had no show however, and was soon
knocked down and dragged off. When
the men returned after the feast | heard
them discussing the meat. Ii was not so
flN..t- 1at1